Category: Miscellaneous

My son and I attended a Wondermore event that raises money to bring in authors to underserved kids in the Boston area. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Jarrett a few times: Skype author visit at my school, Peanut Butter and Jellyfish picture book trailer, and Platypus Police Squad book release at the book store owned by The…

The Américas Award was founded by CLASP in 1993 to encourage and commend authors, illustrators and publishers who produce quality children’s and young adult books that portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States, and to provide teachers with recommendations for classroom use. CLASP offers up to two annual book awards, together with a commended…

The live webcast is here. Here are the winners and honor books! Of couse, my big question that I have asked goes unanswered is: Why isn’t APALA at the ALA party? Where are the best Asian American books for kids and teens? APALA is an affiliate of the ALA (American Library Association). They are announcing at…

When I was in college 30 years ago, I volunteered at Pine Street Inn, a homeless shelter for men. It was located in South End, Boston, then an area cut off from Boston proper by the orange line subway line which ran above ground. It wasn’t a safe area; I had to recruit my 6…

Thank you to everyone who sent me photos of their kids caught reading. They are wonderful! As always, I will send you a children’s book for each photo. Please email me at pragmaticmomblog (at) gmail (dot) com. This Family Circus cartoon is courtesy of Ann of Doodles and Jots who sent it to me by…

I thought I would talk about branding, SEO and social media marketing for authors even though I am not an author, nor have ever marketed a book. So then, you might ask, why would I be qualified to talk about bootstrap marketing for anyone, let alone authors? Thanks for asking. When I was twenty years…

I grew up in a culture of fear. I’m not sure if it’s because my mother’s life turned upside down when she was forced to leave her home during WWII for simply being Japanese American and living in San Francisco or if it’s because she’s a tiny woman at 4 feet 11 inches. Or if…

MaryAnne of MamaSmiles and I are counting down our Top 5 Posts of 2014 together. If you are new to blogging and wonder how to get a post to go viral, I would say that it’s an unpredictable business. I would suggest — and I hope MaryAnne would agree with me — to write each…